Investing in Social Innovation and Technology in Tanzania

Investing in Social Innovation and Technology in Tanzania • CUSTOMISING APPROACHES TO ENABLE INNOVATIONS
testing new ideas, and risk tolerance. Against this
background, it is critical that investors understand
the nuances of the sector it is seeking to work with
and the conditions needed to test and scale up the
innovation it supports – otherwise known as the
‘enabling environment’ – and to tailor funding and
support mechanisms for sub-sectors accordingly.
Recognising these complex sub-ecosystems, HDIF
has tailored its support to its innovations and provides
more guidance and support to grantees and partners
where needed. It is accepted that the development
impact of these innovations may not be measurable
within the grant period, and the likelihood of
adoption is significantly lower. Concurrently, HDIF
focuses more on understanding and strengthening
the sub-ecosystem, connecting partners, engaging
policymakers to lower the risk. The focus on earlystage
testing of prototypes requires more flexibility
in reporting, has more flexible performance
expectations, and assumes more risk. That being
said, the potential for transformational impact is high;
when adopting a sub-ecosystem approach , it is
possible to break down existing barriers, or create a
demand where none previously existed.
The importance of understanding
sub-ecosystems
HDIF has funded innovations across many sectors
and sub-sectors, but the comparison of two examples
illustrates the importance of understanding the subecosystem
in designing innovation investments.
The health sector in Tanzania is a comparatively
robust ecosystem for innovation. As a consequence
of significant government and donor funding,
programmes, and partnerships across the country,
investors supporting health innovation are able to
concentrate on funding the scaling up of initiatives
rather than advisory support. As a consequence, subsectors
such as mobile technologies for the practice
of medicine or public health (mHealth) are thriving.
Compared to those in other sectors that HDIF
supports, the programme’s portfolio of ten
mHealth innovations are predominantly laterstage
innovations that have been tested and are
ready to scale. Implemented by more experienced
and technically capable partners, their impact has
been easier to measure and adoption rates have
Children build their own
self-devised solutions
during a fun hack at
Innovation Week 2018.
been higher. In response to this, HDIF’s funding has
focused on scaling up, which requires more rigorous
reporting, has greater performance expectations, and
assumes less risk.
By comparison, HDIF also sought out innovation in
the sanitation sector but found very few partners
with innovations beyond typical approaches already
in use or that had already failed in Tanzania. At the
government level, the coordination of innovation
and technologies for sanitation is more complex
than in mHealth. For example, work in sanitation is,
in part, under the Ministry of Health, Community
Development, Gender, Elderly and Children
(MoHCDEC), but also requires engagement with
the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the Ministry
of Education, Science and Technology, and
PO-RALG (which is responsible for supporting local
government authorities (LGAs) in service delivery of
sanitation). Cooperation between these government
actors is also implemented through various National
Sanitation and Hygiene Steering and Technical
Committees actively engaging with the National
Water Sector Development Programme (WSDP).
Navigating this complex system of government
partners, obtaining buy-in for testing and scaling
specific innovations over time, and providing a clear
path for scale and adoption is riskier.
Compared to the mHealth sub-ecosystem, there are
significantly fewer qualified, risk-taking partners with
innovative ideas and funders willing to invest in earlystage
sanitation innovations. Collectively, the existing
sanitation interventions tend to be conventional
and the few actors who are implementing are often
A sub-ecosystem
approach emphasises
the interdependence
and interaction
of elements and
actors, both within
and external to an
organisation.
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HDIF